Valuable Lesson From LPGA Tour Pro Jin Young Pak…

I recently spent some time with Jin Young Pak – one of the girls I coach on the LPGA Tour. She is a great talent, and in my opinion, will be one of the great players in the world very soon. However, Jin Young sometimes has a problem with her swing – a problem I see all the time with handicapped golfers. So, I thought I would write about Jin Young today and hopefully share a lesson that will help all of you play better golf.

Everything is relative. An LPGA Tour player’s problems may be a little different than someone with a high handicap. Yet, touring pros sense problems just like you – by feeling out of sync. They may not know exactly what’s happening – but they know it doesn’t feel right. With Jin Young, the timing of her downswing was off. Her lower body was much too quick, which caused her to leave the ball right…which forced a recovery with her hands. Now, Jin Young knows what a good downswing should feel like – so she tried manufacturing that feeling to get back on track. Of course, this wasn’t the answer.

When dealing with a problem in a golf swing, always go backwards. If your downswing is off - you’re probably not making your normal backswing. And if your backswing is off, you’re probably not in your usual address postion. Simply, your body isn’t in the correct position to move - so it can’t. The answer is to get back to a solid address position and let your swing find you. Let me say that again. Set up correctly and let your swing find you – stop looking for it.

If you think about it, you already know what I’m talking about. You’ve experienced this feeling before. Every golfer has. You have at one time or another set up over the ball and knew you were going to hit a good shot. You knew because everything felt right, and because of that – you were confident and powerful. You made what felt like an effortless swing and the ball went right where you were looking. And when you made that swing - you felt great. You felt your body working a certain way – a way you’ve tried to duplicate over and over again – but of course to no avail. The reason? You tried replicating the feeling of that swing as opposed to replicating the set up that allowed the feeling.

Jin Young working on her alignment

Here’s my tip for today. Next time you’re hitting it well – take a picture. Either a polaroid or a video. Anything that clearly shows your set up from down the line and face on. But don’t watch it. Just put it away. And when you start struggling – take another picture. Now compare the two. I guarantee you will see a difference. And if you duplicate the first picture again – your swing will find you. Maybe after 50 balls or so – or even less.

I have one of my students carry a hitting mat in his trunk. One day when he was swinging very well, we traced his stance on to the mat. We used a 7-iron as the club. We traced his feet and the ball with a magic marker. I told him to put the mat in his trunk and only take it out when he was struggling. Then, take his 7-iron, put the ball in its spot and his feet in theirs – and just hit balls. His swing found him in no time. Needless to say, he needs me much less now then he ever did before.

With Jin Young – it took all of about three minutes. Of course it never hurts to have a ton of talent.

So…find your set up and you will find your swing…or better yet, it will find you.

Suzann Pettersen Set for Monster Year on LPGA Tour…

Through three rounds in Thailand, Suzann Pettersen is having her way with the field. She’s opened up a five stroke lead with 18 holes to play and looks certain to win the first event of the 2010 LPGA Tour season. But even if she doesn’t, I think she’s set for a monster year. It wouldn’t surprise me if Suzann won 5-6 times this year and overtook Lorena Ochoa as the #1 ranked golfer in the world. She’s that good. And possibly could get even better.

When I’m out on tour with one of my students and get a chance to see Suzann hit balls on the range, I’m always impressed with her athletic ability. In fact, I’m not sure if there is a better athlete on the LPGA Tour. She’s strong, flexible and hits the ball a mile. If she’s had a knock, it’s been in the finishing category. As in, she’s had a tough time finishing tournaments that she should have won. In the past, on more than one occasion, she found ways to lose events, But you know what? So did Tom Watson until he started winning. And so did Lorena before she started winning. It is very possible to learn how to win through tough losses. It just takes a very special person with an unbelievable strong mind .

I’m not 100% convinced that Suzann has that kind of mind yet…but I think she might. Time will tell. I wish her luck though, as I respect anyone who works as hard as she does.

Suzann hitting one of her powerful drives at The U.S. Open

My Semi-final Picks at Accenture World Match Play…

I must admit — this is a pretty darn good semifinal. We have Sergio Garcia vs. Ian Poulter and Paul Casey vs. Camilo Villegas. Should be an exciting afternoon of golf. In the first match, I like Sergio. I don’t think he’s played his best golf yet and is due for a good solid round. And if he has one this afternoon, it should be enough to top Poulter. Although, this is a tough one, as Poulter is such a good match player. In the second match, I like Villegas. Actually, I like Casey better, but I’ve been underestimating Villegas all week, so I owe him a pick. However, with my match play luck, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Casey won. I mean seriously, these two matches are the definition of “toss-up.”

That said, I will put my picks out there. With an overall record of 31-29, I choose…

Update: Well, Sergio let me down today. I’m officially giving John lessons for a month. However, I think I’ll schedule them when I’m away from Florida and conveniently forget to tell him. Anyway, the Villegas match is still going and won’t finish until tomorrow. So we don’t know who Poulter will play in the finals quite yet. With Sergio’s loss, my record is now 31-30 and still in danger of below .500 if I lose the Villegas match and tomorrow’s final. We shall see. As usual, the loser is crossed out and my pick, if they won, is in blue. Red if I didn’t pick them. We’ll finish this embarrassment up tomorrow.

2nd Update: Casey beat Villegas this morning, so I was 0-2 yesterday. Nice!

Garcia vs Poulter — Garcia
Casey vs Villegas — Villegas

My 4th Round Picks for Accenture World Match Play…

At 28-28 through the first three days, I don’t have much of a chance to win the match play pool…but I will soldier on with my 4th round picks. Would you believe a guy who sells insurance and sees a golf course about once a year is leading our pool? All I have to say is, Johnny my boy, even a blind squirrel finds a nut some days. And you my friend are that blind squirrel. Of course, I will say nothing on how a golf professional like me, who sees a golf course more than once a year, could be 28-28. Other than Jaidee? Really? Or Oliver Wilson? Really? You guys are killing me. I have a side bet with one of my bracket competitors, and let’s just say that…I’ll be giving him free lessons for a month unless I go undefeated the rest of the way. So Jaidee — wake up! You’ve had a good run but it’s time for you to relax with some nice Pad Thai and call it a tournament.

Okay, here goes…

Update: Not bad so far today. 3-1 for the morning. I missed the Goosen/Villegas match, but I’ve been underestimating Villegas all week. Over all record is now 31-29. I need a clean sweep to not give Johnny free lessons for a month. C’mon Sergio and Camilo. I’m through underestimating you.

My picks in blue. Losers crossed out.

 

Jaidee vs Poulter — Poulter
Goosen vs Villegas — Goosen (this is a tough one)
Garcia vs Wilson — Garcia
Casey vs Cink – Casey (another tough one)

Video: Tiger Woods Publicly Apologizes…

Tiger Woods didn’t do all that was needed to restore his image today…not by a long shot. In fact, I’m not sure if that’s even possible — no matter how many more majors he wins…or babies he saves. The truth is, this scandal will always be part of his legacy. Always! That said, I think he made a good first step today. Even though I didn’t agree with the timing, I think for the most part, it was a good apology. Could have been better. But it certainly, with his history of openness (or lack there of), could have been a whole heck of a lot worse. So, good job Tiger! I know that must have been tough. Just stick to your therapy and get past this stuff. And become the man we all thought you were. America forgives, even if it doesn’t always forget.

Update: As expected, there was quite a reaction online after Tiger’s apology — with some on his side, and some not willing to cut him any slack. But there was one strange, although I think sincere, reaction from The Golf Channel’s Charlie Rymer. Charlie cried. Yes, cried. It was like a Barbara Walters interview. On this subject, I’m not sure whether to be my normal sarcastic self or admire good ole Charlie for keeping it real. So…I will just stay quiet. But no crying.

Dr. Gio Valiante adds his two cents…

My 3rd Round Picks for Accenture World Match Play…

After a tough day yesterday, I am ready to redeem myself with better picks. And why the rest of the people in my pool are obsessed with Tiger Woods’ press conference, I’ll be inching my way back up the leaderboard with an 8-0 day. Or at least that’s the plan. Okay, here goes…

Update: So…yeah, apparently, I really shouldn’t join these pools. Awful, awful day of picking winners for me today. My picks are in blue. Record today was 3-5, which brings me to 28-28 total.

Ishikawa vs Jaidee — Ishikawa
Watney vs Goosen — Goosen
Singh vs Poulter — Singh
Crane vs Villegas — Villegas
Clark vs Garcia — Garcia (barely)
Cink vs Schwartzel — Cink
Donald vs Wilson — Donald
Casey vs Gay — Gay

My 2nd Round Picks for Accenture World Match Play…

I had a reasonable first day in the picks department, with a record of 19-13. Let’s see how I can do on day two. Okay, here goes…

Update: Okay, this was a seriously bad day in the picks department. But who would have thought Schwartzle, Jaidee or Wilson? I mean…yes…they are all great players…but they’re killing me in my pool, which I was leading up until today. Today’s record — 6-10. Overall — 25-23. My picks are in blue…

Westwood vs Watney — Westwood
Els vs Goosen — Els
Crane vs Yang — Crane
Ogilvy vs Villegas — Ogilvy
Furyk vs Schwartzel — Furyk
O’Hair vs Cink — O’Hair
Casey vs Weir — Weir
Gay vs Z. Johnson — Gay
Donald vs Allenby — Allenby
Wilson vs McIlroy — McIlroy
Hansen vs Garcia — Garcia
Kaymer vs Clark — Clark
Scott vs Poulter — Scott
Kucher vs J. Singh — Singh
Karlsson vs Jaidee — Karlsson
McGowan vs Ishikawa — Ishikawa

Tiger Woods to Break His Silence…Schedules ‘Small and Intimate’ Press Conference for Friday in Clubhouse of the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla…

Updates on Bottom of Post

Well, looks like Tiger Woods is going to play this year. News out today is that Tiger has scheduled a press conference for Friday in the clubhouse of the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., home of the PGA Tour.

I think he’s doing this now for two reasons. First, most golf reporters are in Arizona for the Accenture World Match Play, which gives him a reason enough to hold a small intimate press conference. And two, he’s probably playing in the Tavistock Cup and wanted to lessen the initial blow before that event started, as it wouldn’t be fair to the other players.

Wow, so it’s finally happening. For a while, it looked like he would never talk about this.

On Breitbart today…

“This is all about the next step,” Mark Steinberg, his agent, told The Associated Press. “He’s looking forward to it.” Steinberg said he would speak to a “small group of friends, colleagues and close associates” about his past and what he plans next, along with apologizing for his behavior. He said three wire services would be invited, and he was asking the Golf Writers Association of America to pick a small group of reporters to serve as a pool. Steinberg said there would be one pool camera, but it would be available live via satellite.

Although, I must say, it’s a little ironic that Woods will speak during the Accenture, which was one of the first sponsors to drop him when word got out. I mean, this does take a little thunder away from the match play.

His agent addressed that issue as well…

The news conference will be held during the Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona, which is sure to steal attention away from the first big event of the year. Accenture was the first sponsor to drop Woods when he became embroiled in a sex scandal. ”It was a matter of timing,” Steinberg said. When asked if the news conference could have waited until after Accenture’s tournament, he replied, “No.”

Read more about Tiger’s press conference on Breitbart.com

Ah, remember when…

Tiger Woods before all the porn stars. Those were the good old days.

1st Update:

More from Tiger’s agent Mark Steinberg:

“Tiger plans to discuss his past and his future and he plans to apologize for his behavior. While Tiger feels that what happened is fundamentally a matter between he and his wife, he also recognizes that he has hurt a lot of people who were close to him.”

2nd Update:

Gary Van Sickle of Golf.com on Tim Finchem’s reaction to Tiger’s press conference announcement being the same week as the Accenture World Match Play:

Tim Finchem was at his diplomatic best, but he did seem a little annoyed (or maybe I just imagined it) that news from Tiger World was just about guaranteed to push his flagship World Golf Championship event to the back page of the sports section for the rest of the weekend. The event was lacking in buzz to start with thanks to the absence of Woods and Phil Mickelson, and was already feeling overshadowed by the Olympic Games in Vancouver. Now, Tiger will dominate the news with speculation about his return until at least Saturday evening.

Asked how much contact he’s had with Woods, Finchem answered, “None.” He added that he has no idea what Tiger’s plans are, what his schedule is (if he is, in fact, returning to golf and presumably he is) or what he’s going to say to Friday’s invitation-only gathering. “I’m not assuming anything,” Finchem said.

My 1st Round Picks for Accenture World Match Play…

Okay, the first round is about set to begin — so here are my winning picks. Some upsets in there as you can see. But overall, a pretty solid first day.

First Update: 4:30pm eastern. Picks not so great as of now. For the matches that have finished, I’ve picked 10 wins and 8 losses. We’ll check back later and try to get this winning percentage higher. If a player is crossed out, it means they lost. If they are in blue, it means I picked them to win…and they won.

Second Update: 5:00pm eastern. Picked up some wins. My picks in blue have won. If there is not a name scratched out, the match is still going on.

Last Update: 7:00pm eastern. Not a bad day overall on the picks. My picks are in blue. Overall record of 19-13. Not great — but good enough for Vegas. I’ll do better tomorrow.

Goosen vs Hansen — Goosen

Stenson vs Crane — Crane

Yang vs Kjeldsen — Kjeldsen

Ogilvy vs Noren — Ogilvy

Villegas vs Johnson — Johnson

Stricker vs McGowen — Stricker

Ishikawa vs Sim — Ishikawa

Karlsson vs Sabbatini — Sabbatini

Fisher vs Jaidee — Fisher

Harrington vs J. Singh — Harrington

Kim vs Kutcher — Kutcher

Poulter vs Leonard — Leonard

Cabrera vs Scott — Scott

Kaymer vs Campbell — Kaymer

V. Singh vs Clark — Clark

Garcia vs Toms — Garcia

Glover vs Hansen — Glover

McIlroy vs Na — Na

Jiminez vs Wilson — Jiminez

Allenby vs Hanson — Allenby

McDowell vs Donald — Donald

Z. Johnson vs F. Molinari — Molinari

Perry vs Gay — Gay

Quiros vs Weir — Quiros

Casey vs Ames — Casey

Cink vs E. Molinari — Cink

O’Hair vs Dyson — O’Hair

Furyk vs Verplank — Furyk

Mahan vs Schwartzel — Mahan

Westwood vs Wood — Westwood

Watney vs Ikeda — Watney

Els vs Moore — Els

Is Tiger Woods Playing in The Tavistock Cup? TMZ Says Yes…Says He Had ‘Secret Meeting’ With Officials…

At first, I didn’t think Tiger Woods was going to play at all this year. I know, I know — that seems nuts. Especially where the majors are being played this year. But honestly, I thought he was just going to bag it for 2010. I figured he would come out in a couple months after America was officially sick of this story, do his interview with Oprah or whomever, and be done with it. And in that interview he’d say (or I hope he’d say) — yeah, I screwed up, but not all that stuff you heard was true. A lot of it was people trying to capitalize on my bad fortune…and the fact I wasn’t talking allowed a bunch of bad people to come out of the woodwork. Yes, I did cheat some. But Elin and I are working it out. And I think it’s best for my kids, wife, and me, if I focus attention on getting my priorities in line. So that’s why I am taking the entire year off.

I think this would be a public relations home run….as long as he didn’t do all the crazy stuff that is. You know — gay sex orgies, chasing girls down hallways, impregnating porn stars, etc, etc. If he did all that, then all bets are off. But, I am still holding out hope that he’s only a very flawed man with a giant ego…and not a major scum bag. Time will tell of course. But if he does take the year off…and he didn’t do all those bad things…the excitement around his return to golf in 2011 would be a circus. But a better circus than the one he’s going through now.

Yet, TMZ of all sources, says Tiger is playing this year. And playing relatively soon. They say he’s playing at the Tavistock Cup in March. Off the subject here but…it will be a blessed day when TMZ stops reporting on golf stories. Okay, back to the deal. TMZ reported today that Tiger met with Tavistock officials at a ‘secret meeting’ and…they’re working out logistics for him to play.

It makes sense I guess. I can’t see Tiger coming back before he’s ready to win, so playing in a team exhibition would be logical. It gets his feet wet in the most delicate way possible. He’d see some guys — but not everyone. The crowd would be small and under control. And the coverage would probably be pretty benign, as Golf Channel isn’t exactly Hard Copy. So, we shall see. I’m sure TMZ and Radar Online will let us know soon enough.

Stay tuned…

Here’s Tiger ripping a driver at last year’s Tavistock Cup. He plays for Isleworth.